Simone Biles on ice: Ilia Malinin shows his only rival is perfection itself
Ilia Malinin looks on after winning his second straight world title on Saturday at the world figure skating championships at Boston's TD Center.
Photograph: Joosep Martinson/InternationalIlia Malinin had just finished defending his world title with another sensational performance including six quadruple jumps beneath the lights of a nearly sold-out TD Garden. But as he pounded the ice after his final pose, the gesture wasn't pure triumph like last year in Montreal. It was the frustration of a perfectionist falling short of a standard no one else is asking him to meet.
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'That was definitely because I didn't land all seven,' the 20-year-old American said afterward. 'It's still the one thing I want to accomplish – whether before the Olympics or sometime in my career – just to land them all and really maximize my technical ability, while also incorporating the rest of the program.'
He had come close. Malinin opened with a clean quad flip, then landed the mythical quad Axel – the dangerous four-and-a-half-revolution jump no other skater in history has landed in competition – though it was marked a quarter under-rotated. But midway through the program, his quad Lutz unraveled into a double, leaving his long-chased 'perfect layout' just out of reach once again.
Related: Unstoppable Malinin repeats as world champion with six quadruple jumps
Yet still, the win was emphatic. Malinin's 318.56-point total left him 31 clear of silver medallist Mikhail Shaidorov and nearly 40 ahead of Yuma Kagiyama, whose error-strewn skate effectively handed Malinin gold before he'd even taken the ice. The outcome was never in doubt. Only perfection was.
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The difficulty of Malinin's technical ceiling is so far above the rest of the field that he can essentially win on difficulty, with enough margin for error to absorb all but the most catastrophic mistakes and still dominate. Call him Simone Biles on ice. The only real drama lies in his own ambition.
'There wasn't even a single thought about doing an easier program,' Malinin said. 'My main goal was to go for this layout. I really trained at home to make sure everything was effortless, comfortable, and consistent. I just wanted to come here and try it – to see what would happen.'
The program he attempted included all six recognized quads in addition to the quad Axel, a configuration beyond the reach of his most ambitious rivals. He refers to it now as the 'perfect layout', a goal he's been chasing for months, even as he's remained unbeaten since 2023. He first went for it at the Grand Prix final in December, where he landed seven quads but several were under-rotated. He tried again at the US championships in January, falling on one and popping another. Both times, he won easily. Both times, he left unsatisfied.
'I think until I land all of them I wouldn't want to cut back,' he said. 'The seven-quad layout is really my ideal layout, and I want to nail this and have it be comfortable, effortless.'
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After those misses, he returned to his home rink in Reston, Virginia, and drilled the layout relentlessly. Scaling back was never on the table. Even after Kagiyama faltered in Boston and gold felt assured, Malinin didn't consider dialing back for competitive reasons. That's just not how he's wired. 'I didn't really think about anyone else's scores,' he said. 'I just wanted to skate how I wanted to skate. I felt bad for Yuma, honestly – he put in the work. But I had to focus on my own plan.'
That plan has always been about pushing limits. Since landing the first quad Axel two years ago, Malinin has treated figure skating's most daunting elements like a checklist. Six quads. Then seven. All while refining his transitions, his musicality, his performance – the artistry that once lagged behind the jumps but now rises alongside them. It seems like it won't be long before a quintuple is on the table.
But on Saturday night, it wasn't the quad Axel that gave him the most satisfaction. It was the quad loop, a jump that had plagued him all season. 'That whole season was for that loop,' he said, laughing. 'I was ready to throw hands with that loop. Finally landing it gave me more happiness than not having a perfect program. That was the moment that made me smile.'
Malinin is, in many ways, inventing challenges for himself. With victory nearly assured, he's turned the test inward, building obstacles only he can clear. His closest rivals speak of him with a mix of awe and resignation. 'I'm starting to think he's invincible,' Kagiyama said earlier in the week. Even the popular and well-liked American Jason Brown, known for his own exquisite programs, remarked: 'What I think is most incredible is I feel he has more in him.'
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That hunger, though, hasn't just been physical. 'I'm definitely impressed with how I feel on the ice, and how I feel inside,' Malinin said. 'My confidence, the way I approach competitions mentally – it's really changed. Now I'm able to get into that flow state and just be in the game.'
He talks often about muscle memory: about trusting the work, surrendering to instinct when the music starts. 'I don't feel like I have to force anything anymore,' he said. 'That's what helped me get through today.'
Now with the Olympic season on the horizon and Milano Cortina only 10 months down the road, the spotlight will only grow. After claiming three of the four gold medals on offer at a world championships for the first time ever – Malinin, Alysa Liu and the ice dance team of Madison Chock and Evan Bates – the United States will head to Milan as clear favorites in the team event.
'I'm definitely looking forward to it,' Malinin said. 'It's a different type of energy. When you skate solo, you're focused just on yourself. But having that team to support you and be there in the moment that's really special. I think it'll be fun.'
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For now, the summer offers a brief reset. Extra brief for Malinin, who is back to work on Wednesday when he flies to skating-mad Japan for an exhibition. 'The first half of the summer I'll spend doing shows and I think that's really important,' he said. 'There's not the pressure of competition. I can enjoy performing, be more present with the audience, and just have fun out there.'
Then the building begins again: new programs, new strategies – and the same goal he's chased all year. 'My focus on the Olympics will really start next season,' he said. 'That's when I'll look at what I want to do, how the jumps are going, how everything feels. It'll be a whole game plan.'
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